day 77
pétanque is a very serious game in france. the rules are simple but there are inevitably fights over the nuances of how they are enforced. the name apparently developed from 'Les Ped Tanco', which, in the southern occitan language means feet together.
while the game is taken very seriously, even more serious is the watching of the game. the luxembourg gardens is the perfect place to enjoy watching the professionals being watched...
posted by clare in paris at
19:13
2 Comments:
hI there Claire. In Italy there is the exact game but we call it BOCCI (Boche) and yes legs must be together. No much sitting down is done in Italy as there is generally to much arguing going on about the distance between the balls and who's is closer etc. The surface the game is played on is very important and there are also usually arguments about who is going to rake the surface before the game! You should have a go some time its a hole lot of fun.
We play a similar game here in Australia where, while we wait for the lamb to cook on the barbeque, we pour large glasses of red wine and take our boules sets out to the the old grass tennis court at Mum and Dad's winery. There are a few tufts of grass which can cunningly conceal the whereabouts of the cochonet and the aim is to not spill too much of your drink while bowling. I didn't know about the feet together thing until this post though -- there's a new challenge. Our family insists on the obut brand of bowls. Even if we are not as strict about our surfaces in Australia, we do believe in quality. I do no some locals here in Glen Innes though who have made a court for their family games and there are a couple of badly maintained but credible petanque courts in a few Melbourne parks I know of. It's just we lack the warm, lazy days at the moment. Your photo made me very nostalgic for the wafting warmth of a summer's evening. Sigh. A bientot.
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